Palo Alto Weekly 06.03.2011 - Section 1

Section 1 of the June 3, 2011 edition of the Palo Alto Weekly

www.PaloAltoOnline.com
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Palo Alto, Menlo
CCS baseball
titles are linked
Page 38
2011
Photo
Contest
winners
Local photographers
offer outstanding
images
Page 30
Spectrum 14
Eating Out 22
Movies 25
Home 43
Puzzles 61
N News
Vote for Best Of Palo Alto
City to revamp emergency services
N Arts Radio variety show comes to town
N Title Pages Summer books for kids
2011
Page 3
Page 17
Page 27
On June 26th
Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re Invited!
Celebrate the 20th Birthday of
Lucile Packard Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital
Join us for a community celebration Sunday, June 26, 10 am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 4 pm
Location: Intersection of Quarry + Welch Roads, Palo Alto, CA
There will be fun for all ages, featuring more than 75 interactive booths, musical performances, storytelling,
face painting, local food favorites, cupcakes and more. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve helped so many children celebrate their birthdays.
Now we invite you and your family to help us celebrate ours. More information at anniversary.lpch.org.
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Upfront
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California Newspaper Publishers Association
Local news, information and analysis
Palo Alto to overhaul emergency services
New Office of Emergency Services would direct cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
emergency planning, support volunteer groups
by Gennady Sheyner
F
or Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grass-roots
army of disaster-preparedness
volunteers, the long wait for a
general is almost over.
Despite budget deficits and staffing reductions, the city is planning
to create a $1 million Office of
Emergency Services this year, an
addition that volunteers have been
clamoring for for years. The office
will be charged with coordinating
and assisting the volunteer groups
and consolidating the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fragmented and somewhat convoluted
emergency-response operation.
The new office, which will include a director, at least one coordinator (possibly two) and administrative staff, is the most significant
new project included in City Manager James Keeneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposed 2012
budget. Once approved, it would
also be the most dramatic action
the council has taken on the topic
of emergency preparedness since
former Mayor Judy Kleinberg advocated for it as one of the councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
top priorities five years ago. The
council also made â&#x20AC;&#x153;emergency preparednessâ&#x20AC;? a priority in 2010 and
this year.
Under the present system, the city
responds to citywide incidents by
activating its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a basement
room in City Hall where top city
officials and public-safety personnel coordinate information and develop response plans. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what
happened on Feb. 17, 2010, when a
small plane crashed into a substation in East Palo Alto, killing all
three passengers and knocking out
power to Palo Alto for most of the
day.
According to an internal city
review that the Weekly obtained
through a Public Records Act request, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to the
power outage was hampered by
the centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x153;outdatedâ&#x20AC;? layout and
(continued on page 6)
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fiber dreams
dealt another blow
Consultants agree
a fiber system for all residents isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feasible
by Gennady Sheyner
P
Veronica Weber
A snowy egret perches Wednesday on a palm tree branch in the migrating-bird sanctuary at the Baylands,
where many egrets and herons are nesting. A multimedia presentation about the birds will be posted on
PaloAltoOnline.com this weekend.
EDUCATION
Castilleja School
to drop science APs
Move intended to foster depth of knowledge, collaboration
by Chris Kenrick
I
n what is described as a bid to
deepen student learning, Castilleja School will replace its
Advanced Placement science classes with a home-grown advanced
science curriculum beginning in
fall 2012.
The century-old independent girls
school in Palo Alto joins about 50
private schools across the country
that have opted out of the College
Boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Advanced Placement (AP)
program in favor of curricula designed by their own teachers.
The most prominent public school
to have done so, Scarsdale High
School in New York, replaced its AP
curriculum with its own â&#x20AC;&#x153;advanced
topicsâ&#x20AC;? classes in 2007.
Castillejaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shift away from AP
classes so far applies only to the
sciences, but Head of School Nanci
Kauffman said it could extend to
other departments in the future.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;This has to be a pedagogical
decision, not an anti-College Board
decision,â&#x20AC;? Kauffman said in a recent
interview.
The impetus came from the science facultyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire for a program
that would â&#x20AC;&#x153;ignite that passion for
inquiry, not memorization,â&#x20AC;? she
said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not science to get you into
college â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s science to love science and consider pursuing it and
going on to become a scientist.â&#x20AC;?
(continued on page 7)
alo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decades-long dream
of expanding its fiber ring to
bring high-speed Internet to
every home in the city should be deferred, if not abandoned altogether,
because of high costs, questionable
demand and fierce competition from
existing telecommunications giants,
two consulting firms have concurred
in separate reports.
The reports from Columbia Telecommunications Corporation (CTC)
and Tellus Venture Associates were
commissioned by the city as part of
its effort to create a new business
plan for its 41-mile â&#x20AC;&#x153;dark fiberâ&#x20AC;? ring
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a network that the city built in the
late 1990s that currently serves 68
customers. While both consultants
recommend extending the fiber ring
to new areas and building new infrastructure to support it, each concludes
that a citywide fiber system â&#x20AC;&#x201D; known
as â&#x20AC;&#x153;fiber to the homeâ&#x20AC;? or â&#x20AC;&#x153;fiber to the
premiseâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; would not make business sense in the current economic
climate.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;There is no compelling case for
providing fiber service directly to
residents at this time,â&#x20AC;? consultant Stephen Blum of Tellus concluded in his
report. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palo Alto is served by large
incumbent retail video and broadband
service providers that enjoy decisive
competitive advantages resulting from
economies of scale.â&#x20AC;?
The findings, which the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Utilities Advisory Commission reviewed
Wednesday night, are the latest blow
to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s long-held ambitions to
spread fiber-based Internet access to
its famously tech-savvy masses. The
cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s earlier attempt to partner with
an Internet consortium on a fiber-tothe-premise initiative fizzled in 2009,
when the consortiumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s financing collapsed. Palo Alto also joined more
than a thousand other cities in apply-
ing for Googleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ambitious Fiber to
the Community project, which aims
to hook up an entire city to ultra highspeed Internet. Kansas City ultimately
won the Google prize.
The new studies are sure to disappoint proponents of a citywide fiber
system. But the reports provide an
array of recommendations to the city
and its Utilities Department for improving the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s small but lucrative
fiber service, which is projected to
generate an estimated $3.3 million in
the current fiscal year.
The CTC report, which evaluates
ways to expand the existing network,
recommends a two-phased approach
to widening the ring. The first phase
would entail building new â&#x20AC;&#x153;access
pointsâ&#x20AC;? at nine existing electrical substations to entice private companies to
work with the city on dark-fiber initiatives and to support various other
wireless services. This could entail
building new cellular towers, which
CTC recommends making at least
75 feet tall, at the substations. These
facilities would be leased to a variety
of telecom companies and would help
the city meet the spiking demand for
wireless coverage.
This proposal will almost certainly prove a tough sell in Palo Alto,
where two recent cell-tower proposals attracted intense opposition from
residents at the proposed sites. In one
case, AT&T was forced to pull its application for a 50-foot tower at St. Albert the Great Church after a group of
residents in the Crescent Park neighborhood pressured the church to step
away from its partnership with the
telecom giant.
The CTC report acknowledges
that its proposed initiative â&#x20AC;&#x153;will not
be welcomed by allâ&#x20AC;? but argues that
this approach is â&#x20AC;&#x153;both a responsible
(continued on page 10)
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;
â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;
450 CAMBRIDGE AVE, PALO ALTO, CA 94306
(650) 326-8210
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not science to get you into college
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s science to love science.
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Nanci Kauffman, Castillejaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s head of school,
on the aim of new, non-AP science curriculum. See
story on page 3.
Around Town
THE SOUND AND THE FURY ...
Downtown Palo Alto will thump and
vibrate with the sounds of jazz, rock,
blues, folk and choral music on June
19, when the city holds its third annual
â&#x20AC;&#x153;World Music Day.â&#x20AC;? This year, however, the one sound that will be missing from the cosmopolitan symphony
is the honking of cars. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s because
the city plans to take the event to the
next level by closing University Avenue to traffic â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a proposal that hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t
always been music to the merchantsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
ears. The most notable recent snafu
was the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palo Alto Promenade,â&#x20AC;? a
2007 event in which the city closed
University Avenue between 4 and 10
p.m. on a Friday. The road closure
created traffic jams on surrounding
streets, including Alma and High
streets and Hamilton Avenue. The
mirthful street atmosphere was quickly overshadowed by grumblings from
disgruntled commuters and frustrated
merchants. This time, the city is banking on a different result. For one thing,
the event will take place on a Sunday
afternoon rather than on Friday during
evening commute hours. In addition,
staff and officials from the Downtown
Business Improvement District are
devoting extra effort this time around
on outreach to area merchants.
Thomas Fehrenbach, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
economic-development manager,
said every ground-floor merchant on
University Avenue will get at least two,
possibly three, visits before the event
informing him or her about the closure
(which will take place between 3 and
7:30 p.m.). So far, each ground-floor
business has received at least one
notification, and the reaction has
been positive, Fehrenbach told the
Weekly. The city is also encouraging merchants to set up extra chairs,
tables and merchandise displays.
It is even offering tables and chairs
to businesses and restaurants who
request extra. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve all been hitting
the streets and trying to make sure we
get the word out,â&#x20AC;? Fehrenbach said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We really hope merchants will have a
positive experience and see this as an
opportunity to get involved.â&#x20AC;?
BLUEPRINTS ... Planet Earth may still
be recovering from a post-recession
hangover, but business at Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Development Center has been picking up at a brisk pace. The center,
which processes development applications and dishes out building
permits, has been buzzing with applications, according to a new staff
report. The number of customers
serviced at the center jumped from
930 in April 2010 to 1,178 in April 2011
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a 26 percent increase, according
to a new report from the office of City
Manager James Keene. The swell of
activity is good news for a hub that
is still viewed by many as Ground
Zero for the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Palo Alto Processâ&#x20AC;? â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a
derisive term that officials hope to
phase out soon. The surge has come
at a time when Keene and the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
planning staff are overhauling the
Development Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations
and working to improve counter service. The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Deputy City Manager
Steve Emslie was recently appointed
to direct the reforms and ensure
coordination among the various
departments involved in this effort.
Vacancies are also now getting filled.
According to the new report, the city
is preparing to hire one permanent
building technician and one temporary one â&#x20AC;&#x153;until workload conditions
stabilize.â&#x20AC;? The city also plans to hire a
new plan-check engineer in the next
two months, according to the report.
These reforms are expected to speed
up customer service. But it remains to
be seen if they succeed in expunging
that exasperating phrase from the local vocabulary.
PATS ON THE BACKS ... Not everyone was cheering when three
Peninsula lawmakers unveiled in April
their plan for â&#x20AC;&#x153;high-speed rail done
right.â&#x20AC;? The plan, proposed by state
Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, U.S.
Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Palo Alto, and
state Assemblyman Rich Gordon,
D-Menlo Park, calls for the California
High-Speed Rail Authority to abandon
any plans involving elevated tracks on
the Peninsula, a scaling back of the
environmental analysis for the project
and a blending of high-speed rail and
Caltrain on the Peninsula. The rail
authority greeted the plan with a mix
of suspicion and confusion, and one
state lawmaker, Assemblywoman
Cathleen Galgiani, D-Livingston,
branded it the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Great Train Robbery.â&#x20AC;?
In Palo Alto, however, city officials
have been tickled pink by the proposal from their elected representatives.
Last week, the City Council Rail Committee unanimously endorsed a letter
to the state and federal officials fully
backing the Simitian-Eshoo-Gordon
plan. The new proposal, the letter
states, is in perfect alignment with the
committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s guiding principals on the
rail project. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If this project is to be built
it must be done right,â&#x20AC;? the draft letter from Mayor Sid Espinosa states.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Your joint statement is another step
in helping to support this key principle.â&#x20AC;? N
Upfront
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BUSINESS
East Palo Alto nonprofits say
to bank: Please stay
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California Bank & Trust, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only bank, is set to close Aug. 26
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Veronica Weber
everal East Palo Alto groups this
week reacted to the announced
closure of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only bank by
saying they wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t let it happen without seeking all alternatives to save the
branch.
California Bank & Trust, which
opened in the Ravenswood 101 shopping center in 2002, is set to close
Aug. 26, according to a bank spokesman. But local nonprofit leaders arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t
willing to accept the decision.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the beginning of the discussion. This isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a done deal,â&#x20AC;? said
Leah Simon-Weisberg, managing attorney for Community Legal Services
in East Palo Alto.
Steve Borg, spokesman for California Bank, said the decision to close
the branch was difficult, but that there
werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough loans and deposits.
California Bank isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a retail bank
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; it is a business and professions
bank that primarily serves large geographical areas rather than having
many outlets, he said. The bank does
offer services to individuals, including
free checking for seniors ages 55 and
older, however, he said.
The East Palo Alto branch was
never able to attract business from its
most profitable neighbors at Ravenswood 101 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the â&#x20AC;&#x153;big boxâ&#x20AC;? stores
such as IKEA, Sports Authority and
Home Depot, Borg said. Borg said
the bank made several overtures to
the stores, but to no avail.
Those stores bank with larger institutions as dictated by their corporate
headquarters, managers at several
stores conceded.
The City of East Palo Alto also does
not use California Bank, Mayor Carlos Romero said. Bank officials approached the city manager and director of finance about making deposits
in the bank, but the city was bound
by a fiduciary responsibility to Wells
Fargo Bank at the time and was â&#x20AC;&#x153;in
no position to just move its banking,â&#x20AC;?
he said. The city moves about $30
million through checks, but it doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t
maintain a large balance, he said.
Romero said the city will be at a
point where it could move its banking
to another institution in about a year
and had mentioned that to California
Bank, â&#x20AC;&#x153;but I think they were at a point
where they couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait that long,â&#x20AC;?
he said. Moving to the local bank
also wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be guaranteed. The city
would put out a request for proposals
for financial services, and California
Bank could apply.
The closure is particularly frustrating for anti-predatory-lending advocates who have seen the city devastated by the residential-foreclosure crisis.
Even before the bank announced its
closure, Community Legal Services
and other groups were working on
ways to increase financial education
and decrease â&#x20AC;&#x153;paydayâ&#x20AC;? and predatory
lending. Their program, called Bank
on EPA and funded by the Silicon
Valley Community Foundation, is
still in development, but the program
model is being instituted in poor,
multi-ethnic communities elsewhere,
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Likeâ&#x20AC;? Ernies Wine & Liquors on Facebook...Friend us on Four
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â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you for supporting our
new location.â&#x20AC;?-Tony
A shopper passes by a man using the ATM at California Bank & Trust,
East Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s only bank, on Wednesday.
such as San Jose.
Simon-Weisberg said the plan is
to sign up 2,000 more people with
savings accounts this year. Those accounts could support the bank, if it
were able to stay open long enough.
She also said Community Legal
Services would look into how to get
the city to commit to investing in a
bank if it wants a bank to invest in the
community. The group could also talk
to the FDIC, the federal governmentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
independent bank regulator.
Having a bank in the community
encourages people to move in and
build community, she said.
Building relationships with a bank
also means â&#x20AC;&#x153;youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not going to be
susceptible to a stranger who knocks
on the door,â&#x20AC;? she said.
Prior to the opening of the California Bank & Trust, residents were
reliant on payday loans with annual
percentage rates of up to 400 percent. And predatory lenders lured
financially naĂŻve buyers into loans
with enormous balloon payments â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
some as much as $7,000 a month on a
$1,000 per month income, she said.
As banks consolidate, Simon-Weisberg said she fears a practice known
as â&#x20AC;&#x153;redliningâ&#x20AC;? will return. Redlining
occurred historically when bankers
drew a red line on a map to indicate
â&#x20AC;&#x153;riskyâ&#x20AC;? communities where a bank
would not lend, regardless of whether
individuals in the community could
qualify for a loan, she said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;They would deny people. People
wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be able to fix up their homes.
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s keeping a community poor if they
canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t buy or sell their homes,â&#x20AC;? she
said.
Kevin Stein, who helped draw California Bank into East Palo Alto 10
years ago, said at the time that East
Palo Alto was the largest city in the
country with no bank branch at all.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;East Palo Alto has been underbanked for decades, and that is a reflection of redlining concerns,â&#x20AC;? said
Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition.
Preeti Vissa, community reinvestment director for The Greenlining
Institute, agreed.
Not having a local bank â&#x20AC;&#x153;is reredlining a community because itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
forcing residents who still need banking services to go to everyone whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
left, such as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;paydayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lendersâ&#x20AC;? who
charge exorbitant fees or a hefty percentage for cash advances, she said.
She also worries about significant drops in home, small business
and Small Business Administration
(SBA) lending. SBA loans alone have
dropped by 50 percent in underserved
communities, she said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a cycle of a dearth of resources,â&#x20AC;? she added.
Without having access to financing, a community has no chance of
rebuilding its economy, she said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mountain View, Palo Alto and San
Mateo are heavily invested-in areas.
Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s absolutely two different worlds.
Financial investment plays a large
part in the financial lives of a community. A local bank provides opportunities to build wealth and assets and
contributes to financial empowerment
and financial literacy,â&#x20AC;? Vissa said.
California Bank is the second financial institution the city has lost
since last year. In September 2010,
Community Trust Credit Union, located on Bay Road, closed its doors,
a victim of the housing implosion, he
said. The regional credit union was set
up by the nonprofit financial-literacy
organization Northern California Urban Development.
On Tuesday, some East Palo Alto
residents outside California Bank
said they would drive the 8.5 miles to
Mountain View; others said they are
closing their accounts.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to leave East Palo Alto in
a bad fix,â&#x20AC;? Candy Maria Hunter said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s part of the community. We feel
welcome here. It discourages people
if they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a bank in their community,â&#x20AC;? she said.
At Country Time Market on University Avenue, Aymen Silmi, who works
the check-cashing concession, said customers are coming to cash their payroll
checks because the bank is closing.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good news for me,â&#x20AC;? he said. N
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Upfront
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(continued from page 3)
equipment, an overloaded phone
system, and shortcomings within
the planning section of the emergency operation. It also didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help
that the Emergency Operations
Center was â&#x20AC;&#x153;crowded, noisy, stuffy,
and generally an inefficient place
to work.â&#x20AC;?
Though the new office will not
address the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urgent need for a
better operation center, it could help
organize the staffing and planning
shortcomings in the citywide operation. The report noted that after the
power outage, staff â&#x20AC;&#x153;had difficulty
transitioning from their working
roles to the assigned ICS (Incident
Command System) positionsâ&#x20AC;?; that
â&#x20AC;&#x153;staff, in some cases, were not
trained or, in most cases, were not
comfortable with their EOC positionsâ&#x20AC;?; and that the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existing
Emergency Operations Plan is â&#x20AC;&#x153;unwieldy.â&#x20AC;? The huge number of City
Hall retirements in the past two
years also impacted the Emergency
Operations Center roster and supporting staff resources, the report
stated.
The report also points out that
when the â&#x20AC;&#x153;proverbial Big One eventually strikes, a key challenge for
City Management will be communications with off-duty staff.â&#x20AC;?
The new director will be expected to bring some order to this chaos.
An independent report issued in
April by the firm Urban Resilience
Policy identified a series of deficiencies with the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emergencyplanning effort and recommended
hiring a new director to address
these deficiencies. The report cited
staffâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s findings from the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response to the February 2010 outage
as evidence for the needed changes.
It concluded that the existing Office of Emergency Services, which
is housed in the Fire Department,
â&#x20AC;&#x153;does not have the authority to overcome planning and preparedness
deficiencies.â&#x20AC;?
â&#x20AC;&#x153;No single group has demonstrated crisis management or leadership
on a comprehensive level, resulting
in a fragmented and ineffective approach to response and readiness,â&#x20AC;?
consultant Arrietta Chakos wrote in
the report.
City officials see the new office
as an attempt to address these deficiencies. They also see it as a good
way to support the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bustling
community of emergency volunteers, which includes graduates of
the Palo Alto Certified Emergency
Response Team (CERT) course,
members of the Palo Alto Neighborhoods (PAN) group, and the
Citizen Corps Council, a broad coalition that includes neighborhood
leaders, city staff, businesses and
employees from Stanford University and Stanford Hospital.
The volunteer groups, while
enthusiastic, have expressed frustration over the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s lack of support for their activities. They have
long called for the city to appoint
what PAN leader and Citizen
Corps Council volunteer Annette
Glanckopf characterized at the
City Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s January retreat as a
â&#x20AC;&#x153;conductorâ&#x20AC;? for their orchestra of
emergency responders.
Their call could be answered on
June 20, when the council will vote
on a budget that includes close to
$1 million for the new Office of
Emergency Services. The budget
includes the hiring of a new emergency-preparedness director and
more than $700,000 for new programs, supplies, planning projects
and operating costs. The city also
plans to reallocate two existing city
positions, including an emergencyservices coordinator and a part-time
administrative assistant, from the
Fire Department to the new office.
The staffing proposal falls short
of the recommendation in Chakosâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
report, which recommends a new
office with four positions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a
director, two full-time coordinators and a full-time administrative
assistant. Interim Public Safety
Director Dennis Burns recommended starting the office with
three positions (and just one new
position) and allowing the new office director to decide whether to
hire additional staff.
Keeneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recommendation for the
new office also includes a budget of
$100,000 for community programs,
$165,000 to pay for operating costs
(supplies, storage, etc.) and onetime expenditures totaling about
$335,000 for equipment and planning efforts. The budget proposal
calls for about $500,000 in new
allocations and about $500,000 in
transfers from the Fire Department
budget to the new office.
Glanckopf called the proposed
overhaul a â&#x20AC;&#x153;step in the right direction,â&#x20AC;? but she also called for the city
to take additional steps to improve
its emergency operations. These include making Burns the permanent
public safety director and getting
the Citizen Corps Council more involved in all things relating to emergency response. The citizensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; group
should be elevated to the level of an
official city commission, she said,
and should be involved in every major decision relating to emergency
response.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m optimistic,â&#x20AC;? Glanckopf said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are moving ahead â&#x20AC;&#x201D; very,
very slowly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but the good thing
is we are moving ahead.â&#x20AC;?
The councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Finance Committee
has already approved Keeneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposal to create the new office, and
the council is expected to do the
same when it approves the Fiscal
Year 2012 budget later this month.
Keene said creating the office is
important to keep the volunteersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
momentum alive.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We do have this tremendous
network of community volunteers
in emergency preparedness who I
think in many ways are in danger of
losing steam, losing energy and that
network breaking down,â&#x20AC;? Keene
told the committee.
Burns said at that meeting that the
new officeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s functions will also include updating the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Emergency
Operations Plan, training staff for
emergencies, starting a new Medical Reserve Corps program (which
would enlist local physicians as
volunteers during emergencies),
planning community exercises and
seeking grant opportunities to further enhance the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s operations.
He said recruitment of the new
director would take place in the
coming months and be completed
this summer. Other staff members
in the new office would be hired in
the fall.
Councilman Greg Schmid said at
the meeting that Keeneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposal
â&#x20AC;&#x153;makes a lot of senseâ&#x20AC;? and that the
new office would bring â&#x20AC;&#x153;tremendous leverageâ&#x20AC;? to existing community resources. He joined fellow
committee members Greg Scharff
and Nancy Shepherd to tentatively
approve the proposed budget for the
new office.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a lot of ferment in
the community about this â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a lot
of people urging it,â&#x20AC;? Schmid said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;It would be a great program to
have.â&#x20AC;? N
Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner
can be emailed at gsheyner@
paweekly.com.
Upfront
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s no place like home.â&#x20AC;?
Science APs
(continued from page 3)
www.matchedcaregivers.com
Veronica Weber
Nonetheless, before moving ahead,
the school tested its concept in a poll
of hundreds of college admissions
officers from across the country â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
and specifically those from Stanford
University. Admissions officers were
overwhelmingly supportive, according to Castillejaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Director of College
Counseling Susan Dean.
This fall, Castilleja science
teachers will continue to teach the
traditional AP classes while at the
same time working to design the
new curriculum in biology, chemistry and physics, to be launched
in the fall of 2012.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ever since the school made this
decision, there have been no questions, challenges or concerns about
the pedagogical rationale behind it,â&#x20AC;?
Kauffman said.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;The only concerns are whether
colleges will understand what weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re
doing and be able to adequately assess our students.â&#x20AC;?
To that end, Kauffman convened
a May 2 discussion on the topic for
Castilleja parents. Panelists included Stanford Dean of Admission and
Financial Aid Rick Shaw and Stanford Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education Harry Elam Jr., who
is also a Castilleja parent.
While saying the AP system â&#x20AC;&#x153;has
made a huge contribution to public
educationâ&#x20AC;? by providing a largesystem structure for evaluating applicants, Shaw said Stanford does
not endorse any particular system
and works to gauge every applicant
in context.
Castilleja â&#x20AC;&#x153;certainly has the
wherewithal to move forward with
assessing what might work for these
young women, and for the school itself,â&#x20AC;? he said.
Shaw pointed to San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s independent Lick-Wilmerding School, which already has
moved away from APs, saying the
Redwood City - San Mateo - San Jose
From left, Castilleja students Elizabeth Johnson, Stephanie Merenbach,
Kylie Holland and Jessica Matthys chat with Head of School Nanci
Kauffman in the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s library last September.
schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new, faculty-developed time for collaborative, project-oricourses aim to â&#x20AC;&#x153;foster authentic ented learning.
engagement, thoughtful inquiry
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Now, the teacher gives a lecture,
and in-depth analysis rather than and you learn the content in the
outdated approaches that rely on classroom, and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re supposed to
rote memorization and inch-deep find time to do projects outside,â&#x20AC;?
coverage.â&#x20AC;?
she said.
However, he said, standardized
â&#x20AC;&#x153;That puts too much burden on
tests â&#x20AC;&#x153;will continue to be importantâ&#x20AC;? kids and families, and youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not
as Stanford assesses applicants, in a position to mentor them on the
mentioning the SAT, ACT and SAT teamwork and collaboration skills
subject tests.
people say are critical.â&#x20AC;?
Elam said many highly accomCastillejaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s curriculum change
plished students arrive at Stanford aligns not only with the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
still needing to be taught a certain strategic-plan goal of producing
flexibility of mind.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;innovative problem-solversâ&#x20AC;? but
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have to train them for also with the latest research in how
college-level thinking, train them students learn, Kauffman said.
to move to a different mode that
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Modern neuroscience has shown
there isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just one right answer,â&#x20AC;? unequivocally that fast-paced, seElam said.
rial coverage of topics is unlikely
Castillejaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s move toward project- to produce durable understanding,â&#x20AC;?
based learning parallels some of she said.
the thinking behind a study of StanBy press time, the College Board
fordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s undergraduate education that had not responded to a request for
is currently in progress.
comment. N
Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can
Kauffman said technology makes
it possible for students to master ba- be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly.
sic content online, reserving class com.
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Upfront
Online This Week
These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout
the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news
or click on â&#x20AC;&#x153;Newsâ&#x20AC;? in the left, green column.
Simitian to discuss state of education Saturday
State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, will discuss Gov. Jerry Brownâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
budget and general trends in an â&#x20AC;&#x153;education updateâ&#x20AC;? Saturday (June 4)
in Palo Alto. (Posted June 2 at 9:48 a.m.)
Bogus 911 calls lead to arrest in Mountain View
While investigating bogus 911 calls, police arrested a man outside of a Mountain View car repair shop early Saturday morning
(May 28) after he charged at officers, an official with the department said. No one was injured in the confrontation. (Posted June 1
at 4:45 p.m.)
Officer injured in tussle, police dog bites suspect
A Menlo Park police officer was roughed up and a San Jose man
bitten by a police dog on Tuesday evening (May 31) in an incident in
the Allied Arts neighborhood. (Posted June 1 at 2:08 p.m.)
DUI arrests down over Memorial Day weekend
The California Highway Patrol arrested fewer drunken drivers in the
Bay Area this Memorial Day weekend than last year, but there were
more traffic deaths, CHP officials said. (Posted June 1 at 9 a.m.)
Escondido School names new principal
Danae Reynolds, a teacher and Palo Alto school district staff member since 2000, has been named principal of Escondido Elementary
School. (Posted May 31 at 5:33 p.m.)
Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fiber dreams dealt another blow
Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decade-long dream of expanding its fiber ring to bring
high-speed Internet to every home in the city should be deferred, if
not abandoned altogether, because of high costs, questionable demand
and fierce competition from existing telecommunications giants, two
consulting firms have concurred in separate reports. (Posted May 31 at
5:28 p.m.)
Menlo Park convenience store robbed at gunpoint
The Tri-E-Z convenience store on El Camino Real in Menlo Park
lost cash and booze during an armed robbery Monday night (May 30).
(Posted May 31 at 12:35 p.m.)
Stanford professor to become envoy to Russia
President Barack Obama will name longtime Stanford Russia
watcher Michael McFaul as the next ambassador to that nation, the
Associated Press and the New York Times are reporting. (Posted
May 31 at 9:45 a.m.)
Officials issue venomous snake warning
Anyone who enjoys the outdoors should watch where they
put their hands and feet this spring and summer, Santa Clara
County fire and emergency officials are warning. (Posted May 28
at 3:41 p.m.)
Trees, grass catch fire behind Gunn High
A grass fire broke out behind Gunn High School in Palo Alto at
about 4:30 p.m. Friday (May 27). Four fire engines responded and
quickly doused the blaze. Gunn 11th-grader Kareem Fawal witnessed
the fire. He had just been dropped in the school parking lot around 4:37
p.m. when he smelled smoke. (Posted May 27 at 6:34 p.m.)
Ira Ruskin diagnosed with malignant tumor
Former state Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, who represented Palo Alto
for six years before terming out last year, has been diagnosed with a
brain tumor and is halting his political career. Ruskin, 67, said he was
advised by his doctors that the tumor, while not curable, is containable.
(Posted May 27 at 9:57 a.m.)
Man punched by alleged lawnmower thief
A would-be thief who was caught allegedly stealing a lawnmower from a Palo Alto gardener was arrested Thursday (May 26) after
punching the victim in the stomach and fleeing the scene, a Palo Alto
police spokesman said. (Posted May 27 at 9:47 a.m.)
815 El Camino Real, Menlo Park
650-321-0550 www.lydianacademy.com
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Palo Alto government action this week
City Council
Historic Resources Board (June 1)
1005 University Ave. The board approved a request by Norman Beamer and Diane Taska to designate the property at 1005 University Ave. to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Historic
Inventory. Yes: Bernstein, Bunnenberg, Di Cicco, Kohler, Makinen Absent: Bower
Abstained: Smithwick
Upcoming Events
â&#x20AC;&#x153;HR & Organizational Learningâ&#x20AC;? Lunch Speaker: Esther Kestenbaum
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Empowering Recent Hires to Re-enter the Workforce with Maximum Effectivenessâ&#x20AC;?
Utilities Advisory Commission (June 1)
Hosted by Comerica Lunch by Hobeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Comeri
250 Lytton Avenue Palo Alto June 8 Noonâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;1:30 pm
Must Register at PaloAltoChamber.com
Broadband The commission discussed the creation of a business plan for a citywide
ultra-high-speed Internet network. Action: None
Architectural Review Board (June 2)
University Chiropracticâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Ribbon Cutting
2080 Channing Ave. The board reviewed a plan to redevelop Edgewood Shopping
Center, which includes building 10 two-story homes, renovating three existing retail
structures and relocating one of the retail structures. Action: None
355 Alma St. The board reviewed Lytton Gateway LLC, a proposal to build a mixeduse four-story building at the former Shell Station site. Action: None
540 Bryant Palo Alto June 21 5â&#x20AC;&#x201C;5:30 pm Refreshments
Business Mixer/Chamber Recognition Event
Hosted by Elks Lodge
4249 El Camino Palo Alto June 22 5:30â&#x20AC;&#x201C;7 pm
Must Register at PaloAltoChamber.com
Public Agenda
Information: 650.324.3121 Reservations: PaloAltoChamber.com
A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week
CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to discuss and possibly vote on the
Final Environmental Impact Report, the development agreement and various zoning changes for the Stanford University Medical Center expansion.
The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Monday, June 6, in the Council Chambers at City Hall.
CITY COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss
the 2011 Utilities Strategic Plan and consider policies and guidelines for a
renewable feed-in tariff. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June
7, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).
CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to hold its annual meeting with U.S.
Rep. Anna Eshoo. The meeting will begin at 4 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8,
in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).
PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ... The commission
plans to consider a conditional use permit to allow renovation of the Roth
Building at 300 Homer Ave., the proposed site for the Palo Alto History
Museum. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 8, in the
Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).
INFRASTRUCTURE BLUE-RIBBON COMMISSION ... The commission will
continue its discussion of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s infrastructure backlog and consider
ways to pay for the items on the list. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. on
Thursday, June 9, in the Lucie Stern Community Room (1305 Middlefield
Road).
HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss
the Human Needs Assessment, hear an update on World Music Day and
discuss a presentation from Generations United on inter-generational communications. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 9, in the
Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).
Leaders Circle Members
Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce
400 Mitchell Lane
Palo Alto
650.324.3121
design by harrington design
The council did not meet this week.
www.PaloAltoChamber.com
Meadow Wing & Focused Care
a tradition
of caring
PALO ALTO COMMONS offers a
comprehensive program for individuals with
Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s disease and dementia in our
Meadow Wing. Here, residents enjoy daily
walks on beautiful garden paths and a full
LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines
and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com
program of activities to engage mind, body
and spirit.
Correction
In the May 27 article about veterans, Edward Pattonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s age of enlistment
and sequence of training were incorrect. He enlisted at 17 and graduated
from jump school, after which he trained to become an Army Ranger and
served with the 173rd Airborne. The Weekly regrets the error. To request
a correction, contact Managing Editor Jocelyn Dong at 650-223-6514,
jdong@paweekly.com or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302.
For residents in the later stages of Alzheimerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
disease, our Focused Care Program provides
for all of the residentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unique needs. Here,
families are assured that their loved one will
get the best care in the most appropriate
HIGH SCHOOL MATH AND SPANISH
SUMMER COURSES â&#x20AC;&#x201C;FULL and SHORT COURSES
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environment now and in the future as needs
may change.
Call today... 650-494-0760
SPANISH CAMPS for kids: K-4th
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Ă&#x160;Â&#x2122;{Ă¤Ă&#x201C;Ă&#x201C;
4075 El Camino Way, Palo Alto, CA 94306
24 Hour On-site Licensed Nurse Services
License #435200706
*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x17D;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;U Page 9
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JUNE 5, 2011
11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
FREE COMMUNITY EVENT
FEATURING TOP ISRAELI BAND
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FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, UCC
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This Sunday: Confirmation & Church Family Sunday
Rev. David Howell preaching
Sunday: Oratorio Society concert at 4pm
followed by an Ice Cream Social
An Open and Affirming Congregation of the United Church of Christ
Upfront
News Digest
Palo Alto fiber
St. Raymond pastor on leave after incident with teen
form of stewardship of (City of Palo
Alto Utilities) facilities and communications assets and a reasonable way
to address a highly charged urban
problem.â&#x20AC;?
â&#x20AC;&#x153;By developing a proactive cell
tower placement program within the
confines of existing electric substations, (City of Palo Alto Utilities)
would in effect be blending the common aspects of facilities everyone
needs and leveraging the common
characteristics of both media.â&#x20AC;?
The second phase in CTCâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s proposal involves building 88 â&#x20AC;&#x153;access
nodesâ&#x20AC;? throughout the city. Each of
these nodes would be able to provide
fiber access to about 250 homes and
businesses. This â&#x20AC;&#x153;fiber to the neighborhoodâ&#x20AC;? initiative would cost about
$5 million to build and, if all goes
well, entice a private operator to build
the â&#x20AC;&#x153;last mileâ&#x20AC;? of the network to each
home. The entire fiber project would
cost between $40 million and $60
million, depending on the type of
system deployed.
The high cost of building a citywide
fiber system has deterred the City
Council in the past from taking on
the project without partners from the
private sector. According to the Tellus
analysis of market conditions, such a
system would not be a financially feasible project for the city to take on.
In its report, the firm lists several
cities, including Alameda and Provo,
Utah, where citywide Internet initiatives had failed. Both Tellus and CTC
also emphasized the dominant role
of Comcast and AT&T in Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
broadband market â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a tough obstacle
for the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fledgling operation to
overcome.
The Tellus report urges the city to
instead focus on its core customers â&#x20AC;&#x201D;
high-tech firms and telecom companies. Tellus evaluated various parts of
the city where the existing fiber ring
could be extended and singled out
the area around East Meadow Circle
(home to Space Systems-Loral and
Dell Computers) as the â&#x20AC;&#x153;best immediate prospectâ&#x20AC;? for such an extension.
Other potentially lucrative areas for
expansion are areas along El Camino
Real and Sand Hill Road.
Blum wrote in his report for Tellus
that the broadband business model
is changing rapidly and that a fiberto-the-home (FTTH) system could
â&#x20AC;&#x153;eventuallyâ&#x20AC;? become economically
viable in markets such as Palo Alto.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;For the present though, the broadband sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s turmoil and uncertainty
make FTTH system investments less
attractive,â&#x20AC;? Tellus concluded. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The
current state of the broadband market
does not support a business case for a
third, overbuild residential broadband
system in Palo Alto.â&#x20AC;?
The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s utilities officials are expected to use the two new studies to
put together a business plan for the
fiber service by this fall. Jim Fleming, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project manager for the
fiber utility, wrote in his report that
staff will further analyze the reportsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;
recommendations and reach out to
customers in areas the consultants
had identified as â&#x20AC;&#x153;underserved.â&#x20AC;? Staff
also plans to â&#x20AC;&#x153;evaluate the feasibility of constructing cellular towers at
some or all of the electric substations,â&#x20AC;?
Fleming wrote. N
Father William Myers, pastor of St. Raymond Catholic Church in Menlo
Park, has been on leave since May 27 following an incident with a 17-year-old
boy, according to the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
Describing the incident as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;boundary violationâ&#x20AC;? that involved no physical
contact, the archdiocese said San Francisco police determined there was no
criminal activity and that the archdioceseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s independent review board will
also evaluate the situation.
The police were called at the request of the youthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father after he became
upset during a trip with his son and Myers to a Ross store in San Francisco
on April 19, according to the archdioceseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spokesman.
However, more than a month passed before the church found out about the
incident. Director of Communications George Wesolek said the archdiocese
was notified by a source on May 26.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t know,â&#x20AC;? he said when asked why the delay. â&#x20AC;&#x153;If we had been notified on April 19, we wouldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve taken action on April 20.â&#x20AC;?
Since the police found no criminal activity, Wesolek said, no policy required notification, but the delay was not in the churchâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best interest.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of those things, we have learned that we cannot step back and if
there is something like this thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s gone to police, we have to take action immediately and put our process into play,â&#x20AC;? he said.
Wesolek said that to his knowledge, no other allegations have been made
against the priest in the past.
Myers is seeking treatment for a sexual addiction to adults, according to
the archdiocese. He joined the parish in 2007, transferring from St. Brendan
Church in San Francisco.
The archdiocese asked that any allegations of sexual abuse involving Myers be reported to the police and to its victim assistance coordinator, Barbara
Elordi, at 415-614-5506 or elordi@sfarchdiocese.org.
Staff at St. Raymond directed questions to the archdiocese. N
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Sandy Brundage
Simitianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bill to limit cough-medicine sales
Joe Simitianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s bid to ban sales of certain cough medicine to minors easily
sailed through the state Senate Tuesday afternoon (May 31).
Senate Bill 514 specifically targets medicine with dextromethorphan (DXM), which produces intoxication and hallucinations when
ingested in high quantities â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a practice known as â&#x20AC;&#x153;robotripping.â&#x20AC;? The
bill was proposed in 2004 by two Palo Alto police officers, Wayne
Benitez and Ron Lawrence, as part of Simitianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual â&#x20AC;&#x153;There Oughta Be a Lawâ&#x20AC;? contest.
Though the bill proved a tough sell the first time around and ultimately
died in the Legislature, Simitian revived it this year. On Tuesday, the Senate
approved the bill 37-0.
Simitian, D-Palo Alto, said in a statement that the idea of banning DXM
sales for minors was â&#x20AC;&#x153;ahead of its timeâ&#x20AC;? when initially introduced. Today, he
said, the problem is better understood.
He cited a report from the California Poison Control System that claims
that DXM abuse calls for children younger than 17 have increased by 850
percent over the past decade, making it the most commonly reported type
of abuse in this age group.
â&#x20AC;&#x153;Back in 2004 Officers Benitez and Lawrence were on top of an emerging
problem,â&#x20AC;? Simitian said in a statement. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But most of my colleagues had never
heard of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;robotrippingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; or â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;skittling,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; and figured if theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d never heard of it,
then it probably wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a problem.â&#x20AC;?
Simitian also noted in his statement that the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the California Peace Officers Association, the American
College of Emergency Physicians and the California State Board of Pharmacy all support the new bill.
SB 514 would make it an infraction to sell drugs with DXM to minors
unless they have a prescription. N
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Gennady Sheyner
Man killed by train in Mountain View
INSPIRATIONS
A resource for special events and ongoing religious
services. To inquire about or make space reservations
for Inspirations, please contact
Blanca Yoc at 223-6596
or email byoc@paweekly.com
Page 10Ă&#x160;UĂ&#x160;Ă&#x2022;Â&#x2DC;iĂ&#x160;Ă&#x17D;]Ă&#x160;Ă&#x201C;Ă¤ÂŁÂŁĂ&#x160;UĂ&#x160;*>Â?Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;Â?Ă&#x152;Â&#x153;Ă&#x160;7iiÂ&#x17D;Â?Ă&#x17E;
A southbound Caltrain struck and killed a man Wednesday night (June 1)
on the tracks south of the San Antonio station in Mountain View, according
to a Caltrain spokeswoman.
The man was struck at about 6:50 p.m., spokeswoman Christine Dunn
said. The incident remains under investigation, and two hours after the incident officials had not yet determined whether the manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s action was intentional or accidental, she said.
The 400 passengers aboard train No. 382, which operates on Caltrainâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
Baby Bullet express service and makes select stops, were transferred to another train that would continue south to the San Jose Diridon station.
Dunn said a bus was provided for passengers on the following Baby Bullet
train, No. 386, which was scheduled to reach the Sunnyvale station at 7:21
p.m.
This is the seventh fatality on the Caltrain tracks this year, of which three
were determined to be suicides and three remain under investigation. Last
year there were 11 fatalities. N
â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Bay City News
LETâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines
and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com
(continued from page 3)
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